Vajpayee’s plea for clean polls

He said in Parliament that if black money is used for funding elections, then there will be no escape from it.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a member of India’s Parliament for forty-seven years. Forty of these were spent as a member of the opposition. He strengthened India’s democracy much more from outside the government, than from within.

Even as prime minister he led a government which had fifteen coalition partners. So there too democratic functioning was imperative. If you don’t carry your coalition partners along, then it is understood that it leads to a decision gridlock, as you have to cater to everyone’s whims and fancies. But Vajpayee’s style was to steer gently but firmly to a consensus. He could charm his allies and disarm his adversaries. He could disagree but never became disagreeable. He did not hesitate to give credit and praise to those he opposed politically. Indeed his tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru just a few days after his death in May 1964 was generous and heartfelt. This was the democratic spirit Vajpayee brought with him to the prime ministership.

Under his leadership of NDA-I, not only did the government function smoothly, but it also undertook major reforms and landmark decisions. Conducting a nuclear test took most Western powers by surprise and was considered unthinkable. Radical reform of tax policy sowed the seeds of what became GST much later. Fiscal responsibility legislation ensured a legal limit on fiscal deficit.

Telecom policy made a radical midcourse correction and the sector, which was moribund, took off and led to India’s famous telecom revolution. The national highways programme is well known as aVajpayee legacy. It would be hard to find another parliamentarian with such along and rich experience in India’s legislature. No wonder he received such rich tributes from everyone across the political spectrum.

As we ponder on his legacy, or consider what would be a fitting tribute to his memory, let’s think about the idea of democracy itself. How would Vajpayee want to strengthen India’s democracy? He would remind us of the need to strengthen its institutions, to hold our elected representatives accountable, to ensure that they uphold the Constitution, and to ensure that that basic rights of citizens are protected.

Democracies work through the instrument of elections. How to ensure that we have genuinely free and fair elections devoid any cloud of fear and coercion, and without appeal to caste, creed or religion? For starters, we have the malaise of dirty money. Vajpayee had strong words on the influence of money power on elections. He didn’t live long enough to caution us about the ill-effects of social media and “fake news” on electioneering. But he did make a strong speech in Parliament on the use of black money in elections (see it on YouTube). He said (in Hindi), “If black money is used for funding and winning elections, then there is no escape from black money.”

Indeed to this day the bane of India’s electoral system is the undue influence of unaccounted money and increasingly of social media distortions. The “WhatsApp influence” is still a challenge. But on money power we do know what we need to do. Unless there is complete transparency in the donor and recipient, and in the source and use of money in elections, it cannot become a levelplaying field. Despite Vajpayee’s exhortations, most political parties continue to resist subjecting themselves to the Right to Information. They say they are private bodies and hence exempt from the law. Never mind that they receive large grants from the government in terms of tax exemptions and free land. In any case, the financial affairs of political parties are a matter of public interest. But they continue to fight tooth and nail, hiding behind a veil of secrecy.

The Law Commission has said that 75 per cent percent of parties’ funds are from unknown sources. That is the donor’s identity is not known. This is from accounts submitted by the parties to income tax authorities. We know that much more is spent than what is disclosed in the submitted accounts. To counter this opacity, in the interest of transparency, the government introduced the concept of electoral bonds. But they are anonymous and no voter can find out who donated to whom. So we are back to square one.

To really honour Vajpayee’s legacy, we need to substantially reduce, if not eliminate, the scourge of money power, of unaccounted wealth in elections. And the starting point would be complete transparency in receipt and expenditures, as well as bringing political parties under the ambit of RTI.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's own. The opinions and facts expressed here do not reflect the views of Mirror and Mirror does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

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